A very strange game
by glassdove
Summary: When Jack fails to turn up to parents evening, Alex is forced to go on the run. Can he keep one step ahead from the men trailing him, rescue Jack, dodge K-Unit and generally save the world? And what does Yassen have to do with anything?
1. Chapter 1

Alex Rider wasn't happy. He was standing under the drooping tree next to the school gates, trying not to get too wet. It was raining, fat droplets splashed against the grey pavement, and every so often a car would drive past, splashing drain water over the kerb, closely missing Alex's school shoes.

Alex frowned at the parked cars, at the flickering street light opposite, that every now and then plunged the houses on the other side of the road into a murky darkness. Where on earth was Jack?

He checked his watch; it was three minutes to six, and then looked at the piece of paper clenched in his left hand. The first appointment had started at a quarter to, and Jack was never late.

Two shadowy figures appeared from inside the school gate, the taller one clutching an umbrella, trying to stop it from turning inside out. It wasn't working. Alex nodded at the smaller person. She was in his class.

The girl caught his eye, smiled quickly and hurried on, down the road and out of sight.

Parents evening. It was bad enough already, without having to prolong it any more by standing outside the school gate getting soaked in a storm, waiting for Jack who was already over a quarter of an hour late. Jack had said that she'd meet him at twenty to six, he remembered, because she had been up in town having lunch with a friend beforehand and she said that the timing would 'fit perfectly.'

Having lunch with a friend. Alex would have laughed if he hadn't been in such a bad mood. Not just any friend. He'd met Dan a couple of times- he was a nice kind of guy- they'd played on the computer, chatted- Dan had even helped Alex with his English coursework- he'd done a English degree at Cambridge.

Alex shoved one hand in his trouser pocket and focused his attention on the flickering street lamp opposite. On... Off… On... Off... He counted the seconds it was on for. One. Two. Three. Four. Then it turned off again.

He liked Dan. Jack certainly got on well with him. But try as he might, he really couldn't see Dan taking charge of a fourteen year old boy let alone a fourteen year old spy. A kid who came home every couple of weeks with a new set of injuries, a colder look in his eyes and more English and IT coursework than he could every catch up with. Yes. Alex could see that Dan might have a problem with that.

He turned away from the road and stared through wire fence, into the dark school grounds. The trees, surrounding the playing field groaned in the wind and the rain was whipped up into a frenzy over the grass. Football would be muddy tomorrow, Alex thought. The only lights coming from behind the fence were the ones from the school, and even they were eaten up quickly by the night and the storm. It was a miserable evening, the kind of one, contemplated Alex, which you'd see from a car window and feel glad you weren't out in.

Oh _come on_ Jack.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked his missed calls. No one. So he dialled Jack's number and held the phone up to his ear. Nine rings, and then voicemail.

'Hi, Jack here! I'm sorry I can't get the phone at the moment, but if you leave a message with your name and number, I'll get back to you soon as I can.'

'Hey, Jack,' said Alex, raising his voice above the weather. 'I was just wondering where you are. If you could give me a ring and tell me how long you'll be that would be good…' He ended the call. Why was he bothering? Jack never checked her messages.

Several more people came out of the school, two boys, each with their mothers'.

'Hey. Rider,' one of them called. 'Still standing outside the gate!' He laughed.

'Druggie!' the other one called.

The smaller one's mother smiled at him. 'Hello there,' she simpered. Then they were gone.

Alex turned back to look at the school. He wasn't sure why he didn't go in- at least he'd be dry inside, but then he'd have to face his teachers. He wasn't sure he wanted to do that, even though he knew what they'd say. Prolonged Absences. Ill Health. All regrettable, but they were damaging his marks and chances of getting good grades at GCSE.

He kicked the fence with his shoe, probably a little harder than he meant to, and then scowled. He felt a shiver of fear run through him and squashed it immediately. This was ridiculous. Why was he scared? There was nothing to be scared of. He was just waiting for Jack outside the school gates.

Then the lights went out.

All was silent, but for the swaying of the trees and the patter of the rain. There was no one about. The road was suddenly hushed, and the street and the school behind him stood stock still.

Then he heard the purr of a car coming down the street. He raised himself on his tiptoes. It was a black BMW, headlights off, crawling along the road at a snail's pace. The windows were darkened but Alex could have sworn he saw the silver of a gun. Silently he stood beneath the trees and wondered what to do.

The people in the car was looking for him, he just knew it. Call it being paranoid but then and there he wanted, no, he _knew_ he had to get away.

He looked up and down the street. At both ends, he could have sworn he could make out a shadowy figure. He took a deep breath and turned to the school. The lights hadn't come back on and the gate was open. If he could only scale the fence at the other end…

He was moving through the gate before he knew it, sticking to the shadows, sliding on the wet grass. He checked the road behind him. The car was drawing level with the gate. He carried on walking. He heard the engine turn off. Heard the noise of people getting out.

'Where is he?' someone said. The man was quiet yet sharp, and his voice cut through the rain like a knife. 'You said the boy would be here. Where the hell is he?'

Alex froze in the shadows of the trees and turned towards the road. A torch had been switched on, illuminating the shape of three men. One of them had their arm outstretched, and in his hand he held a gun.

'Where is he?'

The beam of the torch was passed over the playing field, illuminating the rain drops in the air and turning the grass a shining gold in the reflection. Alex stood frozen to the spot. The torch came closer to him. Still, he didn't move. Then it jerked away, back towards the school and the other side of field. Alex let out a deep breath and edged a little further away, taking care not to slip on the grass.

But suddenly, his foot touched down on a branch and it cracked under his weight.

'What was that?' one of the men hissed.

'The torch!' Another one said, and swung the beam over the grass until Alex was looking right into the glare, squinting at the light.

'There!' The man yelled, and cocked the gun.

Alex ran.


	2. Chapter 2

He ran across the wet grass, slipping and sliding as he went, rain pounding in his face. He could hear the men behind him, hear them running through the gate, following him. Alex's feet skidded as he tried to keep his balance on the wet sports ground. His heart was racing as he ran, beating so fast he thought it might burst through his chest. If he could only get to the other side of the field and reach the gate on the other side, then he might have a chance.

He burst out of the cover of the trees, streaking across the centre of the field, heading for the gate. He guessed that they'd have men positioned there but the least he could do was try.

Behind him, Alex heard one of the men yell something to another, but he couldn't hear what. They were still behind him though, and gaining fast, but if he could only get through the gate, Alex reckoned that he could ditch the men and get away. He looked up and saw the gate through the gloom, maybe twenty metres away, miraculously open.

Ten metres to go. His breath was coming in gasps, the rain blurring his vision, his heart thumping, fit to burst. The men were behind him, closing in, shadowing him. They were catching up. He pushed forward with all his might, feet thumping heavily on the muddy ground. He was going to make it!

Five metres. Four. Three. Two. Another man appeared, standing between the fence and the road on the other side. Alex crashed into him, forcing him to stumble backwards, off the pavement.

'Grab him!' one of the men behind him yelled.

Alex pulled away from the first man's grip and finished him with a hard kick in the stomach. The guy groaned, holding his waist, lying in the gutter. Alex didn't have time to feel sorry for him. He'd already whirled around to face the next man, punching him viscously in the nose. The guy reeled backwards but hit out at Alex, catching him in the ribs. Alex gritted his teeth and smashed his fist into the man's face, once, twice, three times. It didn't look good, but it was an instinctive move and now the guy was lying in the gutter with his friend..

The third man, the one with the gun had stayed back, watching the kid fight.

He was good. They had said he was good, and the third man hadn't doubted them. They also had said that he wasn't to be hurt. The third man reluctantly put the gun back to his belt. It was a shame. He hadn't used his gun nearly enough recently.

He stood, one hand on the fence, watching the boy tackle the first man, who'd just about regained his balance.

The third man stepped out from behind the fence. The street was still dark. It was still raining. The kid had his man in a chokehold. He allowed a faint smile to curl up his top lip. Very good.

'Rider.'

Alex looked up from his hold around the man and saw the figure appearing through the gate.

'Rider. Let go of him.'

Alex stared at the third man. He seemed more dangerous that the first two. He held himself gracefully, balleticly even, and there was the small matter of the gun at his hip.

'Rider.' His voice was low, dangerous. '_Let him go_.'

Alex released the man, who sat up slowly, massaging his neck. Alex's heart was thumping. His mouth was dry and with the adrenalin of the fight over, his hands were shaking slightly.

'Good,' said the third man silkily. 'Now we can talk. If you'll just come with me…'

Alex found his voice. 'Go with you? I don't think so…'

He broke off. The two other men had got up and were standing next to him. Suddenly, they seemed rather tall and very threatening. It was one thing fighting them separately by surprise, but now Alex was outnumbered and had lost his only advantage. His mind whirled but there was nothing he could do. They were going to kidnap him, and outside of his school, of all places.

'Come on, Alex,' the third man insisted. Alex didn't move.

'I'll scream,' he said.

'What?' asked the third man.

'If you make me go with you, I'll scream. They'll hear me at the school. They won't let you take me.'

The third man shook his head with a patronising look on his face that Alex didn't like the look of.

'Alex, Alex, _Alex_,' he said softly. 'Don't be so stupid. My men here could take you out in less than three seconds.

Alex gave the third man a look of disgust and opened his mouth to point out that he highly doubted it, as he'd already knocked both of them to the ground already, when he remembered the gun at the Third Man's hip and shut his mouth quite hurriedly.

The Third Man smiled, and for some reason it sent a shiver running down Alex's spine.

'Good,' he said. 'Now, Mr Rider, we really have to be going.'

Alex stared at him. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

The Third Man nodded at the two men. 'Wrong, Alex.'

They grabbed his arms. Alex tried to pull away, tried to struggle, but couldn't get free from their grip. They began dragging him down the road, towards a waiting black car. Alex tried not to panic but it didn't work.

Who were these people? Did they have Jack? How did they know who he was?

They'd reached the car by now, and the Third Man had opened the back door and yelled some orders to the driver. The man who was holding his right shoulder had relaxed his grip, and as Alex stepped off the curb, he ducked down and pulled away, slipping out of their grasps like an eel.

He was off sprinting down the road like a madman, almost crashing into a parking metre and splashing through a big puddle. He was soaked, bruised and his rib was hurting, but the main thing was that he was alive.

'After him!' yelled the Third Man and watched as the men ran off down the road, stumbling after the kid. He kicked out at the fence in anger, but only succeeding in knocking off the rain water that had collected on it and soaking himself.

It was ridiculous really, that he'd been given those two morons to help him get the boy. He'd _told_ them that the men were no use, that they'd scare the kid off soon as he saw them but _no_. They'd told him that he was lucky to have back up.

Backup. He'd have been better off without the idiots. The Third Man gave an exasperated sigh, and opened the passenger door of the black car. It was no good. The men would never catch Rider now. He'd have to think of another way. There was always that guardian of his…. Jack…..

He got into the car and nodded at the driver. His bad mood had evaporated somewhat with the thought of revenge, and he pulled out a phone from his pocket and started texting furiously. The sleeve of his black shirt had rolled up slightly in the excitement of it all, and although he pulled it down quickly, a small scorpion tattoo could still be seen, just above his left wrist.


End file.
